More than five months have passed since the senseless
murder of our mother, Shaden Saleh Abu-Hijleh, by the Israeli Army (IDF) acting
in the city of Nablus on 11
October 2002. Israeli soldiers deliberately shot her while she
was sitting inside our home working on a piece of embroidery. Our father Dr.
Jamal Abu-Hijleh and brother Saed were injured and miraculously escaped death.
Our mother was a peace activist and philanthropist. She dedicated her life
to helping the poor, and was a member of several local organizations that
extend support to needy families.

The inconceivable
circumstances of our mother’s murder brought about international and local
condemnation of the IDF actions against Palestinian innocent civilians in
general and her case in particular. The Israeli Government had promised whoever
approached them about the case, such as the International Committee of the Red
Cross, the United Nations, human rights organizations, journalists and even the
United States Government, to conduct a serious investigation. To this date no
one received any information about the investigation, and we are not sure if
one is actually underway.

We, the family and
friends of Shaden Abu-Hijleh, vowed to pursue the case of her murder to try to
bring the ones responsible to justice. Many concerned people around the world
expressed willingness to help and support our endeavor. Lawyer Hussein
Abu-Hussein who represents us on the case addressed a letter to the State of
Israel Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense, the Attorney General, the
Military Commander, the Military Police, and the Judge Advocate General
requesting an official investigation to be carried out and expressing the
readiness of a number of witnesses to provide sworn affidavits of what actually
happened (a translation of the letter is attached for your information and
use).

We believe that the
IDF and the state of Israel
should not be allowed to avoid their obligations of conducting the
investigation, making its results public and bringing promptly to justice all
the ones responsible for the atrocity committed against our mother, father and
brother.

We believe soldiers
who commit war crimes should not be immune and should be brought to justice
like other criminals.

We call upon you
to help us by:

ØContacting directly the persons mentioned at the
end of the appeal and supporting the family's request for an independent,
impartial and transparent investigation and requesting that the ones
responsible be promptly brought to justice;

ØRequesting your Congress/Parliament representatives,
local pressure groups to contact the Israeli Ambassadors to your country and
the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs to condemn the Israeli Army actions
against Palestinian innocent civilians, like Shaden Abu-Hijleh and her family
and requesting the Israeli Government to respect its own obligations under
international laws;

ØGetting in touch with your local media
representatives encouraging them to fairly and objectively cover the stories of
Palestinian victims of Israeli violence and to investigate and follow up on the
unsubstantiated explanations and unmet promises provided by the Israeli
Government Official Spokespersons, particularly in the case of Shaden
Abu-Hijleh’s murder.

Help us ensure our mother does not become
just another number in the long list of Palestinian victims of the Israeli
Occupation.

Let us together make the next Israeli soldier on such
a mission hesitate before pulling the trigger and killing another Innocent
Palestinian Civilian.